1/2009 TBBL - Mersin 78, Kocaeli 58

Mersin (1-0) - the new team for Ivory Latta - is hoping to return to the TBBL finals this year. Kocaeli (0-1) was promoted from TBBL2 to the big leagues last year and is just hoping to stay alive. (One problem for Kocaeli - no WNBA players on the roster.) Mersin had no problem with getting their first win at home, 78-58.

The box score is here. No pictures just yet.

It looked like this game was going to be decided early. Mersin started out the game 13-4 and led 21-10 after the first quarter. However, Kocaeli surprised the home team by fighting back to within three points, 23-20 in the second quarter. Mersin closed the first half 39-33.

Barbara Turner had a good third quarter to help Mersin take a 54-38 lead at one point in the third quarter. Mersin held their sixteen-point lead at the end of 30 minutes, and led by 23 points - 71-49 - at one point in the fourth quarter.

Let's take a look at the Four Factors of the game:

Field goal percentage: Mersin 37 percent, Kocaeli 36 percent. Neither team shot well, but Mersin went 7-for-28 in 3-point shooting. Yes, that's 28 3-point attempts. All in all, Mersin made 76 field goal attempts and Kocaeli just 58.
Turnovers: Mersin 16, Kocaeli 28. The TK column is the turnover column.
Offensive rebound percentage: Mersin 29 percent, Kocaeli 21 percent. Kocaeli had 42 rebounds altogether; Mersin had 40.
Free throws: Mersin 15-for-21, Kocaeli 13-for-17.

And the performances:

Mersin

Olympia Scott: 12 points, 8 rebounds.
Barbara Turner: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists.
Erlana Larkins: 7 points, 8 rebounds.
Ivory Latta: 9 points, 3 assists. Latta only played for 20 minutes.

Kocaeli

Ceyda Kozluca: 15 points, 4 rebounds.
Meryem Kolayli: 13 points, 9 rebounds. According to Translate Google, she's "Mary Easy".


Seda Bayraktar: 12 points, 5 rebounds.